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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26308696">Counting Stars</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kannika/pseuds/Kannika'>Kannika</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Young Justice (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Fluff, F/M, Humor, Set Between Young Justice Season 1 and Season 2, Slice of Life</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 10:21:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,349</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26308696</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kannika/pseuds/Kannika</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Artemis and Wally might live a mostly-normal life, might be semi-retired from the hero game, but that doesn't mean it's not an interesting time.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Artemis Crock/Wally West</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>61</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Emergencies (?)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>More Spitfire fluff! They deserve happy stories, so this is going to be a bunch of unrelated drabbles about their relationship outside of the team. They have a fun dynamic and it's entertaining to think about superheroes trying to be normal adults.</p><p>Think of this as set between seasons one and two, when they were 'retired' or starting to retire, so the team and their mentors will make some appearances, but not most of the freshman. Maybe Bart, because that has a lot of potential.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Artemis.”</p><p>Artemis groaned and burrowed into her covers, trying to drown out the sound. It was a person, and they were talking, not screaming, which meant it wasn’t an emergency. Therefore it wasn’t worth her brainpower. Wasn’t worth waking up for. She was going back to sleep.</p><p>“Artemis?”</p><p>She swatted this time, and the person took her hand. They were freezing cold, an unpleasant shock to her system, and she muttered for them to go away this time and tried to get out of their hold. </p><p>“Artemis.” </p><p><i>Wally,</i> Artemis’ tired brain finally computed, which meant he wasn’t going to give up. “What?” She snapped. </p><p>“Um…” He faltered. “We’re out of pancake batter—"</p><p><i>“Wally,”</i> Artemis said through gritted teeth, stopping him cold, she was up all night last night finishing a paper and was <i>not in the mood.</i> “If you woke me up just to tell me we’re out of pancake batter, I’m going to murder you with this pillow.”</p><p>A beat of silence. </p><p>“Actually,” Wally said brightly, “I woke you up to ask you if you knew that you can make emergency pancake batter with bananas. Did you know that? I saw it on Pinterest.”</p><p>“Couple things. First of all, why the hell were you on Pinterest? I don’t go on Pinterest.”</p><p>“M’gann showed it to me,” Wally said defensively. “It’s cool.”</p><p>“It’s not cool. And also, emergency pancake batter is not a thing.”</p><p>“Disagree!”</p><p>“And third,” Artemis said, “we’re onto the important question of <i>why the fuck did you wake me up to tell me this?</i>”</p><p>There was another pause. Wally was clearly trying to choose the correct words that would allow him to keep his life. Artemis repeated the mantra of <i>I love him, I love him, I love him</i> to keep from screaming at him.</p><p>“I woke you up because, uh, I was going to make you pancakes since you finished finals,” Wally said quietly, “but we’re out of pancake batter and nothing’s open and I don’t know how you tell if a banana is ripe. Ours are either right on the edge or… going to kill us.”</p><p>Artemis snorted into her pillow. When she rolled over, Wally looked sheepishly apologetic. It was amazing the number of times he forgot silly things like what time it was or the right things to buy at the store, but occasionally he remembered the best things and did something like this and it was all worth it.</p><p>“You’re going to make me congratulatory pancakes at six in the morning?” She asked.</p><p>“I’ve been awake for hours and I couldn’t wait any longer,” he admitted. “So, uh, <i>do</i> you know when bananas are ripe? My parents are on vacation, so my next option is calling M’gann, but if that wakes Conner up then it’s all over.”</p><p>“Tell you what,” Artemis said with a sigh, trying to shake off the last edges of sleep, “If we die, we die together.”</p><p>“…Which option does that mean? Because they both work.”</p><p>She sat up, and Wally kissed her forehead and rearranged her bedhead so she could see. God, she loved him. </p><p>“Let’s make emergency pancakes,” she said.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Date Night Problems</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Artemis finds it hard to turn off the hero persona, even when just out for dinner.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wally loved Artemis, with all his heart, but she made date night very, very difficult.</p>
<p>“I can’t believe you actually found another Mexican restaurant,” Artemis said, but she sounded kind of bashful. It was warranted. </p>
<p>“As long as you don’t threaten the manager of this one we should be fine,” Wally said dryly, passing her a menu. Although he was a little proud. It was deserved then, too.</p>
<p>“He doesn’t deserve to threaten to deport his servers,” Artemis said primly. “It’s racist and uncalled for and with any luck he’ll be out of business soon.”</p>
<p>“Him and the ten others,” Wally muttered under his breath. </p>
<p>“It’s not my fault Gotham is full of assholes.”</p>
<p>Wally sighed and opened his menu. “Well hopefully this works, at least.” He looked over the choices. “Babe, we’re getting appetizers, right? That sounds good. It was kind of a long drive here and these nachos look amazing.”</p>
<p>Nothing. He glanced up and Artemis wasn’t looking at her menu. She was looking over his shoulder, a look on her face that Wally liked to think of as ‘lioness getting ready to rip someone apart’. </p>
<p>He didn’t want to know, but he followed her gaze anyways. In the corner of the restaurant, there was a short girl who looked around fifteen, and a man who looked to be in his twenties. She was huddled in the corner of the booth, grimacing and clutching her purse to her chest like a shield, and he was trying to put his arm around her, talking about how pretty she was and where they could go.</p>
<p>Wally knew exactly what was going to happen next.</p>
<p>“Babe,” he said under his breath, “You gotta stop, come on, we talked about this-"</p>
<p>“I will not,” she snarled right back, standing abruptly, menu forgotten. “It’s creepy and wrong and he needs to be knocked down a few pegs.”</p>
<p>“Artemis, we’re not heroes right now. If you punch him, we’re going to get in trouble.”</p>
<p>“Worth it,” she said, and stalked toward them.</p>
<p>“At least talk to him first!” Wally called after her, but when she didn’t even slow he groaned and slumped down onto the table. There was just no stopping her. </p>
<p>To her credit, she took a full five seconds to talk to the douchebag before he pulled out the c-word and got a well-deserved deck to the face. The manager threatened to call the police and Artemis turned and smiled victoriously at Wally. </p>
<p>Their list of restaurants in Gotham that they could go to for date night was getting progressively thinner, but for the way the girl smiled and thanked Artemis and clung to them when they left, Wally couldn’t be prouder.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Artemis definitely seems the type to take vigilantism wherever she goes while Wally seems like he'd just call the police or talk to an authority figure. Just my take on it. </p>
<p>I should do more in Gotham, I'm realizing. There are a lot of things that Wally would be confused by about Gotham. Including why two of his favorite people chose to live there.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Flip Flops</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Injuries are an expected part of being a superhero. </p>
<p>Not so much an expected part of beach days.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I’m getting really tired of coming to visit you here,” Artemis said. </p>
<p>Wally scowled at her. “It’s not my fault this time.” </p>
<p>She snorted. It definitely <i>was</i> his fault, this time and every other time, but for some god-forsaken reason boys tended to deny responsibility first and admit facts later. “Your insurance hates me, I hope you know,” she said, sitting down in the chair next to his hospital bed. </p>
<p>He smiled a little, impertinent jerk. “Insurance can’t hate people. It’s a thing.” </p>
<p>“Your agent hates me. I swear she nearly hung up on me this time.”</p>
<p>“Then we need a new agent. I’m sure Rob can recommend someone.” He paused, only a fraction of a second, but it was more than enough time for him to get himself in trouble, Artemis had learned. “In fact—"</p>
<p>“If you say ‘why do we have insurance when we have Rob’, I’m leaving.”</p>
<p>“It’s true!”</p>
<p>“You’re not married to him.”</p>
<p>“You’re not married to me either,” Wally reminded her, still grinning. “And yet.”</p>
<p>“And yet,” Artemis agreed, but scowled at the offending leg that had caused the hospital trip this time, propped above the bed. Just a precautionary measure, she was told, it was a bad sprain and not a break, but it looked momentous and it was going to cost them way the hell too much. “I can’t believe you.”</p>
<p>“In my defense—"</p>
<p>“It seemed like a good idea at the time, I know.” They had been here <i>way too many times,</i> why did her boyfriend have such a penchant for injuring himself in stupid ways— “But I’m going to call bullshit on that this time. You have to have known that running at super-speed in flip flops was going to end badly.”</p>
<p>He stared her down, defiant. “It did seem at least like I could pull it off.”</p>
<p>“You were in <i>flip flops.”</i></p>
<p>“She was yelling for help! I didn’t know it was because her cat was stuck in a tree! I thought she was being abducted or hurt!”</p>
<p>Artemis groaned and put her head in her hands so that she looked severe and not like she was holding back laughter. She <i>could not</i> encourage this. She wouldn’t. She had more dignity than that.</p>
<p>“Tell me you at least managed to rescue the cat.”</p>
<p>“I did. So technically I didn’t hurt myself running at super-speed in flip flops, I <i>climbed a tree,</i> so you should actually be proud of me— Why are you crying?!”</p>
<p>She wasn’t crying, though, she was laughing, and when he figured it out a second later Wally huffed indignantly. “I’m calling Rob and Conner to come visit me. They’ll appreciate this properly.”</p>
<p>Artemis doubted that a lot, but since he needed to learn his lesson, she called them for him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Wally seems the type, to me, to accidentally injure himself in stupid ways. Like he's great on missions but in real life he cuts his hand because he decided the best way to open a stuck jar was to hit it so hard it broke. I think it's going to be a running joke.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Sweater Weather</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The people in Artemis' life are very, very strange sometimes. Including her boyfriend- although he might be onto something, here.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a short but sweet chapter, with bonus M'gann and Conner because I am weak.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Are you almost ready to go?” M’gann asked. </p>
<p>“Almost,” Artemis sighed, throwing clothes from her closet one after another. Where the hell <i>was it?</i> “Relax. We still have time to make it to the movie.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but you know Raquel likes to be early to watch the previews.” M’gann’s voice was teasing, fortunately. “And Conner’s known for being super patient.” </p>
<p>Artemis snorted. “How you date that boy, I’ll never understand.” </p>
<p>“Same with you and Wally, you know,” M’gann said flippantly, eyeing the growing pile of clothes. “Why do you even let him do laundry?”</p>
<p>“You know, I ask myself the same question sometimes,” Artemis groaned, throwing another shirt onto the pile. Her closet was nearly empty, and still, no dice. “Maybe it’s all part of his master plan to never do any chores. If it is, it’s working. Where in hell did he put my favorite sweater?”</p>
<p>“Artemis!” Wally called from downstairs, right on cue. “Are you almost done? We’re going to the movie theater, not the opera!” </p>
<p>Easy for him to say, Artemis though sourly, pulling the last few hangars and checking the back of the closet for stragglers. With his speed, he could find anything he wanted in an instant. Right now, she envied him so much. The closet was empty. Her favorite sweater was officially MIA. <i>Argh.</i></p>
<p>“Why don’t we just go ask him for help?” M’gann suggested tentatively. </p>
<p>Because if his patterns held true for whenever else he cleaned up, he wouldn’t know where it was, either, but she supposed it was the only option she had left. “Fine,” Artemis said, kicking the pile out of her way— she didn’t have time to clean it up now, she would ask Wally for help when they got home. “But only because I literally can’t think of anywhere else to go and Raquel will never let me live it down if we’re late for the fourth time in a row.” </p>
<p>“I don’t think anyone would,” M’gann said with a smile, and led the way out of the room. “Alright, we’re coming!”</p>
<p>“It’s about time!” Wally said, appearing in front of the door with a gust of wind that messed up M’gann’s hair and almost messed up Artemis’ too. “Conner was getting antsy.” </p>
<p>Artemis rolled her eyes. “I’m sure he—" She stopped short, looking at him closely as he shifted from foot to foot. He was wearing green. He <i>never</i> wore green. “Is that mine?” </p>
<p>Wally blinked at her. “What?” </p>
<p>“That sweatshirt. That <i>is</i> mine! I was looking all over for that!”</p>
<p>Conner’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline as M’gann laughed. “That’s Artemis’?” </p>
<p>“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it,” Wally said defensively, crossing his arms and giving Artemis a look of <i>you’re not getting this back.</i> Great. “Guys’ sweatshirts are stretchy. Girls’ sweatshirts are soft. Feel this.” He stuck the sleeve out at Conner, who felt the inside and hummed appreciatively. “Right? It’s so much better than ours!” </p>
<p>“It is,” Conner said in amazement, and he glanced up at M’gann and frowned. “M’gann doesn’t wear sweatshirts I can steal.” </p>
<p>“Have one of Artemis’!”</p>
<p>Artemis groaned. “You can’t just give away my clothes to our friends!” </p>
<p>“Why not? I bought you half of them!” </p>
<p>…He did have a point. </p>
<p>“What if I just bought you some next time I went shopping?” M’gann asked. </p>
<p>Conner glanced at Wally, getting his opinion; he shook his head adamantly. “Not the same thing. The fact that it’s been worn makes it better.” </p>
<p><i>“How?”</i> </p>
<p>“It just feels better when it’s been warm! Plus it doesn’t smell new anymore. It smells like you.” </p>
<p>M’gann giggled into her hand. “You’re freaking adorable.”</p>
<p>Artemis stifled her smile the best she could, but it was kind of adorable. “I take it you want me to keep buying the ones two sizes too big?”</p>
<p>“You mean you want me to keep buying you sweatshirts two sizes too big? Yeah, I can do that, babe.” Wally grinned. He saw right through her. “I’ll buy you another one of these. It’s my favorite, too.” </p>
<p>“Can I have one?” Conner asked, and he sounded completely serious. Why couldn’t she have <i>normal</i> friends, Artemis wondered. </p>
<p>“Yes. But—" She pushed past Wally, grabbing his favorite Flash sweater off of the couch and throwing it on. It was still warm from when he had been wearing it before he put on hers, and she could smell traces of his deodorant, and it did somehow feel different than wearing a new one. He was onto something. “Fair is fair.” </p>
<p>Wally just grinned wider, more appreciatively. “You look good in my sweatshirt. This is a win-win for me.” </p>
<p>“Hm…” Artemis said with a grin. Her sweatshirt was tighter on him than it was on her, and it turned out he could <i>work</i> green. “You look good in mine, too.” </p>
<p>“Movie!” Conner announced loudly, all but dragging M’gann out of the room. “You two are disgusting and we’re going to be late and I’m telling Raquel it was your fault.”</p>
<p>Wally waggled his eyebrows. “Are we skipping the movie?” </p>
<p>Artemis scoffed, and decisively strode past him. “Absolutely not. We have one date night a week and I am <i>not</i> giving it up.”</p>
<p>“What! But… but…” </p>
<p>Artemis laughed, pulling him after her. “You don’t get off the hook that easily, mister,” she said. “Movie first.” </p>
<p>It was the little things, really, she thought at the flabbergasted look on his face. The little things like this that kept their lives plenty interesting.</p>
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